MQM may support PPP candidate

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWER - Though main opposition parties including Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf are divided over fielding a joint candidate for the presidential election, the third opposition party in NA, Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), is dropping a hint to support PPP candidate.“Although MQM has not still made public its decision to support any political party, yet this time Muttahida will support PPP’s candidate,” a Senior MQM legislator, desiring not to be named, shared with The Nation on Monday.It would not be out of place to mention here that PPP’s leader and former Interior Minister Rehman Malik some four days before visited London’s MQM office, inviting MQM to join PPP-P as coalition partner in Sindh government. Though MQM has still not reached on some final consensus yet in quid pro quo, MQM has almost decided to support PPP’s candidate in the presidential elections, he said, adding that this is almost sure that MQM will not field its own candidate or favour Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).ANP to back PPP nomineeAwami National Party (ANP) has decided to extend support to the Pakistan People’s Party’s candidate in the presidential elections scheduled for August 6.The decision to this effect was taken in the party’s meeting held to consider the request in this connection from Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian President Makhdoom Amin Fahim.ANP central leader Haji Adeel said that only PPP leadership had approached them for support to its candidate for presidential elections, while neither PML-N nor PTI had approached the party in this connection. He further said that their parliamentarians in National Assembly, Senate and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would vote for the PPP candidate.